Monthly Archives: December 2012

My in-laws take care of her great aunt. She is in her 90’s and has her own special suite at my in-laws house. Daily they take her meals. They are always on her own dishes.

Think about it for a minute. My mother-in-law is a decorator extraordinaire. Her house looks like a museum or a gallery – everything just so. Yet she takes the time to prepare the meals for Aunt Luella on her own dishes. To make her feel like her memories and things are special.

It would be easier to just fix all the meals on one set of dishes, but this taking the time to honor an elder relative is a blessed lesson for me.

Holidays can be crazy. Nuff said. But imagine your birthday on top of Christmas!!

Every year, my father-in-law celebrates his birthday on Christmas Eve. Every year the theme is Christmas because the house is already decorated.

In 21 years of being a part of this family, I’ve never once heard him complain about all the last minute before Christmas stuff that ends up getting done on his birthday. I think I would complain a lot. I’m not as patient.

We had a funeral for a dear brother in Christ today. He loved to sing and he loved to smile and he loved to spread happiness everywhere he went. He will be greatly missed. But I won’t forget his funeral and the pianist who started “Sing with the Angels.” Pretty soon all of us were joining in the song.

Just for a moment, imagine what heaven is going to be like. Everyone so happy to be there – no more death, getting cut off in traffic, taxes, hospitals, needles, grumpy neighbors or grim news on the television. I think we will all sing out of sheer happiness. Sing with the angels.

It is still so astounding what Jesus could have and should have yet what He did for us. I love this musical selection of a song that will stick with you for days. Why would God do this for us? He is amazing.

I studied French in high school and college. I love foreign languages! My oldest is studying Spanish. It was so much fun to amaze him at translating some words, just because of their similarity to French words. Studying even just one foreign language can open up all kinds of opportunities!

I hate the new language I’m learning – Crohn’s Disease. Today’s new word – arthritides. I hate these little chemicals that Crohn’s releases into my body. I’m not enjoying this at all. Writing (the old fashioned pen and paper kind) is painful and at some point I am sure even typing will become more trouble than it is worth.

The more I study this new language, the more I learn that Crohn’s is really a vast network of disease and symptoms. It is much bigger than most of us realize. I’m learning to recognize that every new thing isn’t exactly new, just a different manifestation of the disease. Bummer.

It does make me think about other connections though. What new “symptoms” in relationships am I frustrated about, when really they are just new manifestations of a problem that has been there for some time. Maybe that adage about nipping something in the bud is some of the best advice ever! If you are dealing with a new struggle right now, take the time to see if perhaps it is just a new manifestation of something you haven’t taken care of yet. That doesn’t mean it will be easy to do. The longer you leave something to fester, the more effort it will take when you finally decide to take care of it. But in the end, it will be worth it. Now if I can just figure out how to defeat arthritides.

I felt sick to my stomach when I heard the first wail of grief come from a family member as the name that represented someone dear to them was read by President Obama. That was just the adults. When he read off each child’s (first name only) name, I could only imagine how many times it had been said by the parents as they interacted with their child each day. How did they say it when they tucked them into bed at night? My mother heart goes out to all of those hurting.

I felt sick to my stomach again this morning when my husband informed me of the latest plans of a certain organization. I shudder that they claim the same name I do, Christian. I wonder, exactly what are they trying to say? I don’t think they plan on quoting John 3:16 or 1John 4:7,8.

I pray for a protective shield of true Christians to surround those mourning families and protect them from picketers and protesters. Please, give us time to grieve and heal.

“It’s the biggest thing happening in East Texas right now.” This is, of course, from the health care perspective. So now I find myself in the midst of the most happening thing in my neck of the woods – a double blind study about whether or not a particular medication is helpful to Crohn’s patients. There are three things that could happen. I could get a generic dose of the medication. I could get a dose that is measured for my age, height and weight. I can also end up with the placebo. I feel like I’m in one of those “you choose the ending” books that I used to read in junior high.

Blood work, EKG, lots of questions, lists of medications and on and on I went through the screening process yesterday. Am I a good candidate for this study? That is still to be determined. In the meantime, I have a diary. I’ve never been good at diaries. This blog is the closest I’ve ever come to writing something down about life on a regular basis. But now, I have to record each day the meds I’ve taken and my pain level and a few other things that Crohn’s patients will know about but I won’t mention here.

My assumption? Once I’m sure to be in the study, I start the diary. Boy was I wrong. I’m supposed to start it right now! These people need to know how bad my pain level is and everything else to even see if I would notice a change due to a new medication. They have to see a record of several weeks of how bad it is, so they will know if I’m actually improving or not once the medication (or placebo) starts.

I’ve always seen myself as a strong person, able to overcome. Keeping track of my pain isn’t going to be easy. I’ll have to admit just how much this disease has beaten me up the last couple of years.

I’m going to have to be broken, vulnerable. Evidently, that is when healing can begin.